VMware Competitors Microsoft, Citrix Will Exhibit at VMworld

VMware has changed its rules and is limiting its two biggest competitors to 10-foot-square booths at VMworld, the world's largest virtualization show. VMware also is restricting the movement of Microsoft and Citrix Systems employees by requiring them to remain within the boundaries of their booths.

Despite a published report Aug. 27 suggesting that Microsoft
and Citrix Systems might be skipping VMworld, held Aug. 31 to Sept. 3 in San
Francisco, both companies told eWEEK that they will
have booths at the conference, which is expected to attract about 200 vendors
and more than 11,000 V-curious folks.

Microsoft with its Hyper-V and Citrix with XenServer are hard-nosed competitors
for VMware when it comes to hypervisors, and the VMworld conference-the largest
virtualization event in the world-is controlled by a company with a protective
and proprietary outlook.

VMware is limiting its two biggest competitors to 10-foot-by-10 foot booths and
is restricting the movement of their employees-requiring them to remain within
the boundaries of their booths.

In the revised VMworld sales information, it reads: "To sponsor or exhibit
at VMworld, your company must be a VMware partner in good standing in our TAP,
Strategic Global Partner or VIP Partner
programs. Sponsors or exhibitors that are not VMware partners may be allowed
under exception."

When non-partners are sanctioned to exhibit at the show under exception, those
approved are limited to participating at the exhibitor level only and cannot be
included as a sponsor of any kind.

VMware did change up the rules from its previous four shows, apparently aiming
the new regulations directly at its competitors.

"It has been incorrectly reported that we pulled our sponsorship-VMworld's
new guidelines for next week's show actually prohibited us from
sponsoring," Citrix spokeswomen Julie Geer told eWEEK. "We will still
be exhibiting at the show. While we wish we had the opportunity to sponsor
VMworld as we have had in the past, it's their proprietary event, and we will
comply with whatever policies they impose."

"VMworld is a proprietary event run by one vendor," said Kim
Woodward, Citrix's vice president of corporate marketing. "At the end of
the day, they have every right to change the rules in any way they wish.

"Citrix respects that and will fully comply with the terms of our show
contract with them. When it comes down to it, if customers want a more open
event, they will have to give that feedback directly to VMware or vote with
their feet by attending other shows that don't restrict competitors."

Microsoft Group Product Manager Patrick O'Rourke wrote the following on the
Microsoft Virtualization Team Blog: "Microsoft will be exhibiting at
VMworld 2009 ... If you have a chance, please stop by [the] booth. It's right
next to the Blogger lounge. ... Unlike prior VMworld conferences, we're no
longer allowed to sponsor the event. We can only be an exhibitor."

The rules require all exhibitors to market and demonstrate products that are
complementary to VMware products and technologies, O'Rourke wrote.

"As a result ... we don't believe we have the right to demo our products
in the booth. This decision runs counter to Microsoft's geek culture, as you
can imagine, but we've also become more pragmatic over the years," O'Rourke
wrote.

"We've learned over the course of four years attending VMworld ... that
there are many attendees who use, admin, manage, sell, support Windows Server,
SQL Server, Exchange Server, Windows XP/Vista, System
Center, etc. They want the
opportunity to engage and receive information from Microsoft virtualization
experts. So we'll have Microsoft virtualization experts in the booth. These
experts will be there to answer your questions."
VMware Global Public Relations Director Mary Ann Gallo told eWEEK that the
VMworld sponsorship contracts contain industry-standard language.

"You should ask what those guys [Microsoft and Citrix] have in theirs
[conference contracts]. It's probably pretty similar," Gallo said.

Chris Preimesberger was named Editor-in-Chief of Features & Analysis at eWEEK in November 2011. Previously he served eWEEK as Senior Writer, covering a range of IT sectors that include data center systems, cloud computing, storage, virtualization, green IT, e-discovery and IT governance. His blog, Storage Station, is considered a go-to information source. Chris won a national Folio Award for magazine writing in November 2011 for a cover story on Salesforce.com and CEO-founder Marc Benioff, and he has served as a judge for the SIIA Codie Awards since 2005. In previous IT journalism, Chris was a founding editor of both IT Manager's Journal and DevX.com and was managing editor of Software Development magazine. His diverse resume also includes: sportswriter for the Los Angeles Daily News, covering NCAA and NBA basketball, television critic for the Palo Alto Times Tribune, and Sports Information Director at Stanford University. He has served as a correspondent for The Associated Press, covering Stanford and NCAA tournament basketball, since 1983. He has covered a number of major events, including the 1984 Democratic National Convention, a Presidential press conference at the White House in 1993, the Emmy Awards (three times), two Rose Bowls, the Fiesta Bowl, several NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, a Formula One Grand Prix auto race, a heavyweight boxing championship bout (Ali vs. Spinks, 1978), and the 1985 Super Bowl. A 1975 graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., Chris has won more than a dozen regional and national awards for his work. He and his wife, Rebecca, have four children and reside in Redwood City, Calif.Follow on Twitter: editingwhiz